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BY Nino Hervias Gloria Guerra Over the past four years, the rise of Uber and other for-hire app-based car services — and the failure of New York City to properly regulate their operations — has decimated the value of taxi medallions. As medallion owners who have played by the city’s myriad rules, we have watched as upstart competitors have been allowed to operate under their own set of rules, creating the most unlevel of playing fields.

The city’s negligence has also had some grave consequences for our common quality of life. Since regulators created very few barriers to entry for these newcomers, they of course stormed, in the tens of thousands, right into the heart of the city’s central business district, helping slow traffic to a crawl.

Don’t take our word for this. Bruce Schaller, one of New York’s most reputable traffic engineers, has singled out Uber and other for-hire vehicles as the major cause of congestion in the central business district — and goes even further to call out the disrupter for undermining mass transit at the same time.

And Schaller makes perfectly clear that taxis — whose numbers, unlike Ubers, are capped by law — have played no role in this burgeoning crisis.

As a result of this Uber-inspired debacle, the city is now facing a congestion crisis so severe that Gov. Cuomo is making solving it a signature 2018 policy initiative of his administration. This week, he’s expected to reveal details of new plans to charge vehicles for traveling into the heart of Midtown.

Our fear, though, is that in looking to solve the growing problem, the state will advance policies that fail to get at the heart of the matter — and that will, in the process, further victimize medallion owners.

Even the policy advice offered by someone as sophisticated as Schaller is concerning.

In the face of his clear-eyed evaluation of how Uber has caused a traffic nightmare, Schaller beats a hasty retreat from the obvious conclusion: that Uber and its imitators need to be reined in through regulations that restrict their boundless proliferation, and that treat all of these e-hails — as the European Union is now moving to treat them — just like any other taxi company.

Instead, he suggests that Uber and Lyft self-regulate by modifying their algorithms to cut down on the cruising times of their cars in the central business district.

Meantime, even after acknowledging that taxis have not contributed to this growing mess, Schaller proposes a mandate on yellow-cab owners — already the most highly regulated group in the transportation industry — “to reduce time spent in the central business district.”

This is consistent with a false evenhandedness we now commonly hear, one that would place the same fees on both taxis and Ubers — as if both segments are now equally regulated and equally responsible for congestion.

That’s just not so.

Back in 2012, Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed adding 2,000 new medallions for wheelchair-accessible taxis — bringing the overall medallion total to its current level of 13,587. The proposal needed both Albany’s approval and triggered a full environmental review.

Through these sales, the city hoped to generate more than $1 billion. Cuomo gave his approval and the deal went through — even though the environmental review determined that the additional cabs would create a significant negative impact on the environment.

Compare and contrast. There are now some 68,000 Uber cars total, and the city’s regulators tell us that they are licensing an additional 2,000 such cars every month — without a single environmental review.

Taxi medallion owners have paid dearly into the municipal system — and continue to pay every year with a panoply of fees, one example being the 50 cents a ride that goes directly to the MTA; Ubers are exempt from paying that fee.

Yellow cabs do so because the city said this was in exchange for the exclusive right to pick up street hails — a right that was abrogated when the regulators allowed the Ubers in with absolutely no limits.

Now that it is clear where the blame lies for Midtown’s overly clogged streets, the false equivalency between taxis and Uber is not a reasonable path forward. Whatever the city and the state decide to do about congestion must be focused exclusively on the unregulated free riders and not the already fiscally obligated medallion owners, many of them immigrants, who have been paying into the system and following the rules for 80 years.
 
Hervias and Guerra are taxi medallion owners and members of the Taxi Medallion Owner Driver Association.

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Ten Things You Need to Know Before Filing Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a tool.  Any tool can be misused which can cause you serious damage.  Ask the idiot who sticks a screw driver in a live electrical socket.
YOU ARE UNIQUE: Each person has a unique situation, background and goals.  Never take advice from a friend or relative because their situation will NEVER be the same as yours.  After all, you would not take medicine prescribed to your friend, so why would you assume your financial and personal history is the same for bankruptcy purposes?
BANKRUPTCY FRAUD: Bankruptcy is not the same of filling out simple forms.  All bankruptcy cases include at least 70 pages of information, all signed under penalty of perjury.  That means if you lie, hide assets or try to defraud the court or creditors you may find your  “discharge” revoked (this is your bankruptcy protection from creditors) and you referred to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution.
MARRIED: If a married person files for bankruptcy protection their spouse is not required to file.  It depends on the circumstances (length of marriage, type of debts, age, etc.) and the law of the state where you live. This is a complicated set of entwining laws and practical issues so make sure to talk to an experienced bankruptcy attorney before deciding what works for you and your spouse.
REPAYING FAMILY:  In the 12 to 24 months before filing bankruptcy do not repay any loans your relatives made to you unless you are paying ALL other debts.  This may be “preferential treatment” if you paid your family and did not pay your other creditors.  Your family may be sued by the trustee in order to reclaim those funds.  That will be a very embarrassing Thanksgiving dinner.
SELLING STUFF: Never transfer (sell, trade or gift) any of the things you own, referred to as “assets”, unless they pay you the fair market value of the asset.  Otherwise, the person who got the asset may find they are forced to give the asset to the bankruptcy trustee for liquidation.  This is referred to as “fraudulent conveyance”.  There is a two year look back for these transactions in bankruptcy court, but may be far longer in your state (for instance, Arizona has a four year look back period).
CREDIT REPORT AND PRIVACY: Bankruptcy stays on your credit report for ten years, but it does not mean you have to wait ten years to start rebuilding your credit.  Learning how to rebuild your credit will help you move toward future goals, like buying a home or vehicle.   There is no privacy in bankruptcy – filing bankruptcy means that your personal situation will be open for anyone to read about.
TIMING OF FILING: Sometimes it is not the right time to file for bankruptcy.  It is very important to strategize when, and if, to file.  Issues such as: monies owed to you, debts you have paid, how much you earned in the last six months, are you moving and need to consider a new landlord’s impression, are you changing jobs and a bankruptcy might affect your new hire; the list goes on and on.
YOUR CAR OR HOUSE: Normally you will not lose your home or car just because you file for bankruptcy protection.  It is important that you continue to pay for what ever you want to keep.  But it is also important to know what the bankruptcy trustee may go after.  The trustee has an obligation to liquidate (sell) those items that have value for your creditors, offset by the exemptions used in your bankruptcy.
STOP, I WANT TO GET OFF: You cannot get out of  bankruptcy “just because you want to”. Never use a bankruptcy for the sole purpose of stopping a foreclosure or repossession.  Depending on your unique circumstances you are going to lose your home or car anyway, but now you will have a bankruptcy on your records.  Filing bankruptcy is like jumping off a cliff.  Halfway down you cannot decide to go back to the top of the cliff (that is not how gravity works).  Checking for rocks or sharks before jumping is good planning.  Do the same before filing a bankruptcy.
WHY DID YOU FILE BANKRUPTCY? It is very rare for anyone (other than your attorney or mother) to ask why you are filing for bankruptcy protection.  Everyone involved in the bankruptcy system assumes you would not file for bankruptcy unless you need to.  Besides that, your situation is never as bad as what others are suffering through.

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About the Author:
Diane L. Drain is a well known and respected Arizona bankruptcy attorney. She is an expert in both consumer bankruptcy and Arizona foreclosure. Since 1985 she has been a dedicated advocate for her clients and spokesperson for Arizona citizens. As a teacher and retired law professor, Diane believes in offering everyone, not just her clients, advice about the Arizona bankruptcy and foreclosure laws. She is also a mentor to hundreds of Arizona attorneys.
I would be flattered if you connected with me on GOOGLE+
*Important Note from Diane: Everything on this web site is available for educational purposes only, is not intended to provide legal advice nor create an attorney client relationship between you, me, or the author of any article.  Any information in this web site should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from an attorney familiar with your personal circumstances and licensed to practice law in your state.*

The post Ten Things You Need to Know Before Filing Bankruptcy appeared first on Diane L. Drain - Phoenix Bankruptcy & Foreclosure Attorney.

Our law firm specializes in representing taxi medallion owners whose medallions are “underwater” (meaning that the loan secured and collateralized by the medallion is greater than the value of the medallion) in workouts with banks and creditors and in bankruptcy filings.  We have noticed a trend recently where many medallion owners who own underwater taxi medallions have transferred their house or primary residence to a trust for no money or other consideration for the transfer.  There appear to be two reasons for these transfers or conveyances: (1) estate planning (where the owner of the house wants future appreciation of the property to benefit a family member or third party); or (2) the property owner (who also owns the underwater medallion) believes that by conveying the house to a trust, he or she is putting the house outside of the reach of the bank or creditor, who will not be able to foreclose on the house if there is a default on the medallion loan and litigation.
In our experience, after meeting with and speaking to many medallion owner clients, we have determined that most of these transfers are not done for estate planning purposes, but to put the family house outside of the reach of the bank or other creditors (the second reason). 
A couple of observations need to be made with respect to the transfer of a house to a trust from a debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy perspective.  If an individual borrows money from a bank, and their liabilities (monies owed to third parties) exceed their assets (property which they own), which is generally the fact pattern for an individual who wants an underwater taxi medallion, the transfer of the family house to a trust for no consideration (money or property) is a fraudulent conveyance. The statute of limitations (or look back period) is six years under the New York State Civil Practice Law and Rules and two years under the Bankruptcy Code.  In a fraudulent conveyance action, the bank or other creditor can commence an action in New York State courts to reverse the conveyance of the family house from the trust back to the individual, and there are many reported cases where creditors have commenced these actions and prevailed (seeUnited States v. Evseroff). Accordingly, a homeowner who makes this type of the transfer may have incurred legal fees and paid real estate transfer taxes and fees to accomplish nothing from a workout or bankruptcy perspective!
In fact, besides accomplishing nothing and incurring legal fees and real estate transfer taxes and fees, the medallion owner/homeowner may actually end up in a worse position than the medallion owner that did not make the transfer, for two reasons: (1) if the trust owns a house and not an individual (who owns the underwater medallion), then the individual cannot claim the New York State homestead exemption which is currently $165,550 per spouse ($331,100 for a married couple) in the New York metropolitan area; and (2) a creditor may object to the discharge of their debt because of the fraudulent conveyance of the house to the trust (see Husky Int’l Elecs., Inc. v. Ritz).
The New York State homestead exemption provides protection to New York State residents, to wit the first $165,550 in equity in a primary residence, after the payment or satisfaction of a consensual mortgage, is property of or belongs to the homeowner and is not subject to the reach of a creditor or a bank.  Additionally, the Bankruptcy Code provides that if a debtor made a fraudulent conveyance transfer prior to the date of the bankruptcy filing, this may be grounds to dismiss their bankruptcy case or deny them a discharge of certain debts.
While there are techniques and approaches to undo or mitigate the damage done by these transfers or conveyances, it is better to not do them in the first place. We have however represented many individuals in mitigating the effects of these types of transfers.Prior to engaging in a workout with a bank or creditor, an individual or a debtor should and can engage in “asset protection planning” under New York State and federal bankruptcy law, but fraudulently conveying the family house to a trust to put the house outside of the reach of a creditor or a bank, does not work and is not valid asset protection planning.
Our experience has shown that nervous or stressed out homeowners who own underwater taxi medallions may be doing themselves more harm than good by hastily conveying their house or other valuable assets to trusts or third parties for no consideration.  We would advise medallion owners to consult with competent, experienced attorneys or lawyers before engaging in such actions.  In fact, engaging in correct and meaningful asset protection planning can often times result in a successful workout with a bank or a successful discharge of debt in a bankruptcy filing.  

When you file either a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you are allowed to declare certain property as “exempt.” Exempt property does not count as an asset for bankruptcy calculations. This is why you will not have to give up household items like your clothes, kitchen utensils and furniture when you file bankruptcy.Exemption analysis can be one of the more confusing parts about filing bankruptcy. The Bankruptcy Code says that every state has the option of creating its own list of exemptions or state legislatures can defer and use a list of exemptions set out in the Bankruptcy Code.The Georgia legislature has chosen to “opt out” of the federal scheme and the Georgia legislature has passed a list of exemptions which can be found at the Official Code of Georgia, section 44-13-100.With limited exceptions for people who have recently moved to Georgia, bankruptcy filers who live in Georgia must use the Georgia exemption statute in their bankruptcy filings. So, even though the bankruptcy laws are issued by the United States Congress, Georgia bankruptcy filers use Georgia state law when it comes to identifying property that they can protect in their bankruptcy petitions.Exemption Information on the Internet Often IncorrectIf you have been researching bankruptcy on the Internet, you can easily get confused because blogs and websites produced by non-Georgia lawyers will reference exemptions that don’t apply to Georgia filers. Further, the Georgia legislature has been updating (and increasing) the exemptions available to Georgia filers and many websites published by national legal publishers are not updated. Currently, for example, a very prominent and well respected legal publisher whose site appears at the top of Google’s rankings shows an version of Georgia’s exemptions statute that is outdated by more than 5 years and completely inaccurate.Because the Georgia legislature does change the exemption statute every year or two you should be very careful about accepting as true anything you see on the Internet about exempt property in Georgia. I am writing this article at the beginning of 2018 and I intend to keep it updated but if I was researching bankruptcy I would confirm anything I read with an experienced personal bankruptcy lawyer.What Property Can You Protect When You File Bankruptcy Using the Georgia Exemption StatuteCurrently, as of January, 2018, the Georgia exemption statute lists several categories of property that you can protect when you file bankruptcy, including:

• $21,500 of equity in real estate
• $5,000 of equity in motor vehicles
• $5,000 of equity in household goods (with no one item worth more than $300)
• $500 of equity in jewelry
• $1,500 of equity in tools of the trade
• $2,000 of equity in cash value of an insurance policy
• 100% of the value of an IRA, 401(k) or pension
• 100% value of Social Security benefits
• $1,200 of value in any property, plus up to $10,000 of unused real estate exemption [this is the “wildcard” provision]
• the state includes a few more categories that apply in limited circumstances – you can read the actual statute here.

If you are married and file jointly with your spouse, you may double the exemption amounts.How Do Exemptions Work in Your Bankruptcy Filing?When you declare property as bankruptcy, that property does not exist for bankruptcy purposes and neither the trustee or creditors can assert any claims on it.In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, one of the jobs assigned to the trustee is to marshal your assets, sell them and distribute the proceeds to your creditors based on a priority system set out in the Code. When you declare your assets as exempt, the trustee cannot grab your assets.Let’s say, for example, that you own, free and clear, a car worth $16,500 and a truck worth $16,500. You file Chapter 7 and declare the car exempt:
$16,500
($5,000) motor vehicle exemption
($10,000) unused real estate wildcard
($1,500) wildcard
____________
$0 equity available for the trustee to liquidateYou will notice that the law allows us to “stack” your exemptions – in the example above, I was able to add the motor vehicle exemption to the wildcard exemption to protect all the equity in the car.However, there is no exemption remaining to protect the truck – it is considered non-exempt equity. So in this case, the trustee would ask you to turn the truck over to his/her office, sell it and distribute the proceeds to creditors. In the alternative, you could approach the trustee and offer to “buy the estate’s interest” in the truck with funds borrowed from a relative or friend.As a practical matter, most Chapter 7 cases are “no asset” cases, meaning that everything the debtor owns is exempt.In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, your non-exempt equity is one factor to determine how much you pay in your Chapter 13 plan. Unsecured creditors in Chapter 13 have to receive at least as much as they would in a Chapter 7 liquidation.Your Wildcard Exemption Can Save You ThousandsAs you can see, the wildcard exemption can make a huge difference in either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13. For an individual, we have up to $11,500 of exemption to apply to any property, and for a joint filing we have $23,000 to apply to any property.The wildcard can be added to any other exemption (as shown in the example above) or it can be used for cash. Many times, the wildcard exemption can make the difference between choosing Chapter 7 vs. Chapter 13, or it can reduce by thousands what you have to pay back in your Chapter 13.Since $10,000 (or $20,000 in a joint filing) of the wildcard available to you arises from your real estate exemption, it is worth your while to spend a little time coming up with an accurate real estate valuation. In general, I am looking for the lowest real estate valuation that I can defend.I recommend to my clients that they call a local real estate agent for a “drive by” valuation that takes into account any needed repairs. I also look at Zillow.com (many trustees use this site to estimate valuation) and if the drive by appraisal is significantly lower than Zillow I many recommend a more in-depth drive by appraisal or perhaps a more formal appraisal.If you are considering filing personal bankruptcy in the Atlanta or north Georgia area and you need advice about how to maximize your use of bankruptcy exemptions, please reach out to me – I’d be happy to walk you through the calculations.The post How the Georgia “Wildcard” Exemption Can Save You Thousands When You File Bankruptcy appeared first on theBKBlog.